File



July 5, 19 2? A. BUSHNELL Filed Sept 16. 1924 FILE 6 Sheets-Sheet l July 5 1927a LQBQASU A. BUSHNELL.

FILE I A. BUSHNELL FILE 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 16, 1924 INVZNTOR. (B JZm/ EMA 6X! July 5, 19279 1,634,450 BUSHNELL.

FILE

'6 Sheets-=Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 16, 1924 INVENTOR A. BUSHNELL 'July 5, 1927.

FILE

Filed Sept. 16, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet '5 IJVTV'EN Tam C/fZF/Qfi B its/ 1222623 A. BUSHNELL July 5? 192m FILE Filed Sept. 6 Sheets--$heet 6 Patented July 5, 1927.

entree sraras ALvAn: BUsnnnLL, or PI-IIIJADEIPHIA, rnnnsynvnivm.

FILE.

Application filed September 16, 1924. Serial No. 737,970

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a file and the like, and has for its primary object to provide an ex ceedingly simple and effective device of this character for use as a letter or deposit slip file which will be relatively inexpensive in the cost of manufacture and which has many advantages over similar devices as will be apparent from the description hereinafter set forth.

Another object of theinvention is to so mount the partitions that they shall have considerable flexibility or adjustability to compensate for the dillerence in the amount of space occupied by articles in adjacent compartments and to also permit ready access to said compartn'ients for removal of the articles therein,

A deposit slip file of ordinary construction comprises an expansible case divided into a number of compartments by means of transverse partitions fixed to the bottom and side walls as well as dividing strips midway the length of the partition. This necessitates making the bellows or expansible bottom and sides and dividing strips from a multiplicity of separate elements, and in some of these the bellows piece between each adjacent pair of partitions is a separate piece necessitating the employment of a high grade experienced operative who will do most of the work by hand in a relatively slow and tedious manner, thus making such devices expensive to manufacture.

These disadvantages are overcome in the construction of my improvement wherein the file is made up of one or more units constructed similar to expansible wallets and where more than one unit is used the several. expansible or bellows walls produce, in effect, continuous walls. Such construction dispenses with many of the ordinary operations and a considerable number of these remaining are accomplished by machinery and then again since the partitions are of less length than the width of the file and are fixed only to the bottom wall of said file, they produce a saving in material, time and labor in the manufacture.

The partitions being free at both ends and temporarily positioned by their interengagement with the division strip are capable of being moved to a largeextent sothat if one compartment has a greater number of articles therein than the adjacent compartment the intervening partition Will adjust itself to compensate for such differences without distorting the walls of the file. Due to the ad justability of the partitions they can be readily spaced apart for the insertion of a persons hand into any compartment for withdrawal of the contents.

lVith these ends in View, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention app-ertains, may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detail, referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in which s Fig. 1, is a plan View of a file constructed in accordance with my improvement, portions being broken away and illustrated in section to show certain constructional. details.

Fig. 2, is a section at the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3, is a section at the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the division strip and one of the partitions illustrating one mode of interengagement.

Fig. 5, is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the partitions.

Fig. 6, is a perspective view of a file prodnced from a number of file units.

Fig. 7, is a perspective view of a modified form of partition, a portion being broken away to illustrate the extent of the slot.

Fig. 8, is a sectional side elevation or face view of a partition and the coacting division strip showing one method of temporarily locking them together, the view being similar to what is shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 9, is a similar view of a modification.

Fig. 10, is a perspective View of a different formation with a portion of the front wall broken away.

Fig. 11, is a similar View of a still difierent formation.

Fig. 12, is a plan view of another construction. j v

Fig. 13, is a vertical section of a file embodying a different form of partition.

Fig. 14, is a perspective View of the partition shown in Fig. 13, looking at the re verse face.

Fig. 15, is a fragmentary plan view partially in sectlon showing the files connected. In carrying out my lnvention as herein embodied, 2 and 3 represent the front and.

back walls respectively of the file and each of these preferably comprise an out-er layer or sheet 4c and an inner layer or sheet 5 of suitable material such as is generally used in the manufacture of filing cases, wallets or envelopes. Between these two sheets or layers of material are secured the edges of the bellows bottom wall 6 and side walls 7 said bottom and side walls being preferably made in one piece as is usual.

From the front to the back wall runs a bellows fold division strip 9 which is relatively narrow so as to reach from the upper edges of the front and back walls to some point considerably above the bottom wall illustrated in Fig. 2. The ends of this division strip are also preferably secured between the sheets or layers of material forming the front and back walls and the inner sheets of the front and back walls are slotted to receive the division strip as indicated at 10.

Within the file are a nun'iber of partitions 11 to divide the spaces in the file on both sides of the division strip into compartments and these partitions are secured only to the bottom wall by means of a wing 12. On the faces of these partitions at either or both sides of the division strip may be numerals or their equivalent 111 to represent the days of the month or the like. Said partitions may be the same height as the enclosing walls of the tile, as shown in Fig. 6; they may be of less height as shown in Fig. 2, or they may be higher than said enclosing wall, as in Figs. 10 and 11, but in all cases they are of less length or width than the space between the side walls 7 and more particularly they are of less length than the distance between the innern'iost creases of the bellows folds of said side walls permitting the side edges of said partitions to be readily adjusted or moved about without interference from the side walls. In order to acconn'nodate the division strip 5) each of the 'iartilions is provided with a slot 13 which may run from the top to a point intermediate the top and bottom edges, as shown in Fig. 2, or it may run from. the top edge all the way down to the wing 12 as indicated in Fig. 7, thus practically dividing each partition into two panels either of which may be moved or adjusted without in any way affecting its companion. Further, if found desirable, the division strip 9 may be provided with slots l i running from its lower edge to a point intermediate its top and bottom edges into which the partitions 11 are inserted at the same time that the division strip 9 is inserted in the slots of the partitions so that said partitions and the division strip 9 are interlocked, shown in Fig. 4.

Another mode or method of interlocking these parts more in a temporary manner is shown in Fig. 8 wherein the division strip 9 is merely notched at a number of places as indicated at 15 into which notches are inserted portions of the partitions which lie directly beneath their respective slots 13. This arrangement has the advantage of temporarily interlocking the parts while permitting the partitions to be displaced should occasion require which may be accon'iplished by flexing the partitions slightly.

The above method of temporarily interlocking the parts has a slight disadvantage in that the partitions will bind on the lower edge of the division strip 9 when withdrawn from the notches 15 and to overcome this disadvantage I may cut out a portion of the lower edge of the division strip intermediate the notches 15 which cut out portions are indicated by the numeral 16 and the material between the cut out portions and the notches will produce cars 17. With this form of the invention when it is necessary to withdraw the partitions from the notches 15 they will enter the cut out portions 16 and therefore will not bind on the lower edge of the di-- vision strip.

lVhere the division strip 9 is not positively interlocked with the partitions as in Figs. 2, 10 and 11, said partitions are held in their relatively fixed positions by means of the creases 01' folds of the bellows division strip.

When the device is to be used as a deposit slip, tile, the compartn'ients may be numbered to represent the days of the month or marl-zed with the letters of the alphabet, or some numerical system, thus providing separate con'ipartments for any desired system of filing.

in order to close the file, if this is found desirable, one of the walls, for instance, the back wallv 3 may be provided with a closing flap 1.8 which will be of sufficient length to entirely cover the open end of the file when expanded.

Due to the constrnctimiset forth above it will be obvious that the file may be expanded a considerable distance without distorting the walls thereof and where one days receipts are greater than another, either preceding or succeeding, the partitions, due to their unattached top and side edges, will adjust themselves to the varying thicknesses of combined articles contained in the different compartments. The unattached portions of the partitions also permit them to be readily flexed for the insertion of articles and in fact they can be flexed to such an extent as to permit the insertion of a persons hand completely into one of the compartments.

in Figz'lt), I have illustrated a different iii iv; Mu

with the other structures.

formation cf'file relating particularly to the method of arranging the divlsion strip and partitions in" their coasting relation.

Theconstruction of the file body or container remains the same'as in the previously described formations and therefore will be numbered with identical reference nume .als.

Each of the. partitions 11 in Fig. is provided with a slot or aperture 13 intermediate its top and bottom and the bellows division strip' 9 is threaded or passed therethrough as will be obvious. After the division strip passed through all the partitions the latter are secured along their bottom edges to the-bottomof'the file body or container and the ends of said division strip then fixed to the front and back walls of the file.-

The finished articleiclose'ly, resembles the construction of the other-forms of the d vice and the'operation is the same.

Fig. 11, illustrates the manner in which more than one division strip may be utilized. to form more than two compartments between adjacent partitions or between a partition and either thcfront or Jack wall.

In Fig. 12, I have illustrated the division strip as being made up from a number of small sections 29, each section having its ends fixed to adjacent transverse wall memhers such as two partitions or a partition and a front or back wall. This construction positions or fixes the center portions of the partitions more rigidly although the ends are free so as to be flexed for the purposes set forth herein.

In Figs. 13 and 14, I have shown afile wherein each partition 11 is provided with a vertical slot 13 running from the bottom edge to a point intermediate the top and bottom edges. Said slot is intended for registration with a division strip 9 similar to those illustrated and described in connection Each partition 11 is provided with a wing or wings 12 along its lower edge whereby said partition may be pasted or otherwise secured to a bellows fold of the bottom wall 6 of the file.

By using a number of the files shown in Figs. 1, 3, 10 and 11 and connecting them together a file such as illustrated in Fig. 6 is produced and in this case a front or back wall of the several files or file units may be eliminated or a front wall of one unit may be directly secured to a back wall of a coacting file unit but either way the wall or walls between corelated file units produce intermediate stiffening walls 8.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is 1. A file comprising front and back walls, xpansihle side walls connected: with the front and back walls,- an exp'ansible bottom wall connected with the front back and sine walls, partitions attached to the bottom wall and free at their ends, and an expansible division strip fixedto the front and back walls and coactingwvith the partitions to hold the latter in relatively fixed positions while permitting movement thereof when dc sired.

- 2. A file comprising front and back walls, expansible side walls connected with. the front and back walls, an expansible bottom wall connected with the front, back and side walls, partitions of less length than the width of the file, means for attaching the lower'edges of said partitions to the bottom wall, and an expansib'le division strip fixed to the front; and back walls and coacting with the partitions to hold the latter in relatively fixed positions while permitting movement thereof when desired.

8. In a device of the character stated,- an exp'ansible container, flexible means attached along its lower edge to thebottom of the ,container while having its side edges tree therefrom, and expansible means within the container coacting with the flexible means to temporarily hold said flexible means in relatively fixed positions.

4. A file including an expansible container, a division strip within the container, partitions secured along their lower edges to the bottom of the container free at their ends and having slots registering with the division strip.

5. A file including an expansible container, an expansible division strip within the container in the region of its upper edge, and partitions secured along their lower edges only tothe bottom of the container and interlocking with the division strip.

6. A file including an expansible container, an expansible division strip within the container in the region of its upper edge, said division strip having slots extending from its lower edge to points intermediate its height, partitions having slots therein extending downwardly from their upper edges, said partitions interengaging the division strip so that portions of the division strip enter the slots of the partitions and portions of said partitions enter the slots of the division strip, and means to attach the lower edges of the partitions to the bottom walls of the container while leaving the ends free.

7. A file comprising a front wall, a back wall, a plurality of intermediate walls, expansible bellows side wall sections connected with the several intermediate walls, front and back walls, expansible bellows bottom sections formed with the side wall sections and also connected with the several intermediate walls, front and back walls, expansible bellows division strip sections connected with the several intermediate walls, front and back walls, partitions of less length than the width oi the side walls, said partitions having slots extending from their upper edges for registration with the division strip, and awing; formed from the lower edge of each partition. for attachment to the bottom sections.

8. The structure set forth in claim 7 in connection with means for temporarily holding; the central portions of the partitions in relatively fixed positions.

9. A file comprising plurality of file units each consisting of an expansible container, an expansible division strip within the container, and partitions fixed along their bottom edges to the bottom of the container and coacting with the division strip whereby said partitions will be loosely held in relatively fixed positions.

10. A file constructed from a plurality of file units such as set forth in claim 1 to produce a front wall, a back Wall, intermediate walls, sectional expansible bottom and side walls and a sectional expansible division strip, the partitions dividing the spaces between the several intermediate walls and between the front and back walls and the intermediate walls and on each side of the division strip into compartments which may be varied in size by swinging said partitions in the desired direction.

11. A plural compartment expansible container constructed from a number of files secured together, each file comprising front and back walls, expansible bottom and side walls, partitions fixed to the bottom wall, and expansible means connected with the front and back walls and coacting with the partitions to hold the latter in relatively fixed positions and divide the spaces between partitions into compartments which may be varied in size by swinging the partitions out of their relatively fixed positions.

12. A file including an expansible'con ALVAH BUSHNELL. 

